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Second Government Art Collection exhibition

Details of the second exhibition of works from the Government Art Collection have been announced

This was published under the 2010 to 2015 Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government

The Whitechapel Gallery confirmed that the second in the five displays will be a personal selection by British artist Cornelia Parker.

The display, which will be called Richard of York Gave Battle in Vain, will feature more than 70 works which will be arranged to create a rainbow of colour around the gallery. Highlights will include Grayson Perry’s Print for a Politician, the 17th century painting Lady with a Tulip and Kenneth Martin’s Blue Tangle.

“I used colour as an organising principle when selecting works from the Government Art Collection,” Ms Parker said. “The title of the display Richard Of York Gave Battle In Vain is a mneumonic used to remember the colours of the rainbow. The paintings and drawings I have chosen see old masters rubbing shoulders with contemporary British artists hung in a spectrum around the Whitechapel Gallery.”

Government Art Collection: Selected by Cornelia Parker will open on 16 September and run until 4 December. It will follow the current exhibition Government Art Collection: At Work, which was chosen by seven public, political and diplomatic figures who have worked alongside art from the Collection in various roles.

Three more displays will follow, including selections by historian Simon Schama and 10 Downing Street staff. Works from all five exhibitions will tour to Birmingham and Belfast.

Further information

Published 26 July 2011